In Greg Iles’ long-awaited return to the literary scene, Natchez Burning (this is his first book since The Devil’s Punchbowl was published in 2009), he takes his readers deep into the racial tensions that plagued the troubled South in the late 1960s.

As the story begins it’s 2005, four months after Hurricane Katrina, and Penn Cage is now mayor of Natchez, Mississippi. He learns his father, Dr. Tom Cage, is about to be arrested. The beloved, now retired doctor whom many called the “medical version of Atticus Finch” is accused of performing a mercy killing for Viola Turner, a black woman who was his nurse many years before.

When Penn attempts to talk to his father about the night Turner died, his father refuses to say what happened, claiming privacy issues. Penn and his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, editor of the Natchez Examiner, delve into the case and find themselves on the wrong side of some well-connected people willing to do anything, including commit murder, to keep them from learning the truth. As they dig deeper, they find Dr. Cage’s case linked to a series of horrific tortures and murders of young black boys and men during the racially charged 1960s by a vicious splinter group of the Ku Klux Klan called the Double Eagles. Most frightening of all, they’re still terrorizing people in 2005.

The first in a trilogy (The Bone Tree is due out in 2015 and Unwritten Laws in 2016), Natchez Burning is a formidable 800 pages, but worth every minute spent reading. Iles has meticulously researched race relations and unsolved race murders from the 1960s to bring readers a book that’s rich with the atmosphere and setting of the time, as well as characters so well drawn, their personalities leap from the page. Natchez Burning is a must-read.

Teri Duerr

2014-05-21 16:47:09

In Greg Iles’ long-awaited return to the literary scene, Natchez Burning (this is his first book since The Devil’s Punchbowl was published in 2009), he takes his readers deep into the racial tensions that plagued the troubled South in the late 1960s.

As the story begins it’s 2005, four months after Hurricane Katrina, and Penn Cage is now mayor of Natchez, Mississippi. He learns his father, Dr. Tom Cage, is about to be arrested. The beloved, now retired doctor whom many called the “medical version of Atticus Finch” is accused of performing a mercy killing for Viola Turner, a black woman who was his nurse many years before.

When Penn attempts to talk to his father about the night Turner died, his father refuses to say what happened, claiming privacy issues. Penn and his fiancée, Caitlin Masters, editor of the Natchez Examiner, delve into the case and find themselves on the wrong side of some well-connected people willing to do anything, including commit murder, to keep them from learning the truth. As they dig deeper, they find Dr. Cage’s case linked to a series of horrific tortures and murders of young black boys and men during the racially charged 1960s by a vicious splinter group of the Ku Klux Klan called the Double Eagles. Most frightening of all, they’re still terrorizing people in 2005.

The first in a trilogy (The Bone Tree is due out in 2015 and Unwritten Laws in 2016), Natchez Burning is a formidable 800 pages, but worth every minute spent reading. Iles has meticulously researched race relations and unsolved race murders from the 1960s to bring readers a book that’s rich with the atmosphere and setting of the time, as well as characters so well drawn, their personalities leap from the page. Natchez Burning is a must-read.

Death Stalks Door County

Joseph Scarpato, Jr.

Trying to recover from the tragic death of his wife and daughter, former Chicago homicide detective Dave Cubiak takes a job as a park ranger on Wisconsin’s picturesque Door County peninsula. Before long, however, a suspicious death in the park rouses his dormant investigative skills. When other bodies begin turning up, and he is asked to downplay these “accidents” to ensure that the town’s important summer festival is not interrupted, Cubiak must tread a thin line between pleasing his superiors and investigating the situation.

As he gets to know the residents of the town, including their backgrounds and hidden agendas, he realizes that there are a variety of suspects and possible motives and that more killings may be imminent. Not only that, but the local sheriff is a dolt—and may even be a suspect himself. This is an unusual police procedural in that the protagonist is no longer a police officer but has the crime-solving skills although he must do most of his investigating sub rosa.

I liked the small-town feel of this novel as well as the vivid descriptions of a beautiful area of the country with which I was not previously familiar. The characters are well drawn, the dialogue realistic, and the puzzle is a difficult one to solve, with suspicion continually shifting as more evidence is uncovered.

This is an impressive first novel by a former staff writer for Reader’s Digest, who specialized in medical and human interest stories.

Teri Duerr

2014-05-21 16:56:42

Trying to recover from the tragic death of his wife and daughter, former Chicago homicide detective Dave Cubiak takes a job as a park ranger on Wisconsin’s picturesque Door County peninsula. Before long, however, a suspicious death in the park rouses his dormant investigative skills. When other bodies begin turning up, and he is asked to downplay these “accidents” to ensure that the town’s important summer festival is not interrupted, Cubiak must tread a thin line between pleasing his superiors and investigating the situation.

As he gets to know the residents of the town, including their backgrounds and hidden agendas, he realizes that there are a variety of suspects and possible motives and that more killings may be imminent. Not only that, but the local sheriff is a dolt—and may even be a suspect himself. This is an unusual police procedural in that the protagonist is no longer a police officer but has the crime-solving skills although he must do most of his investigating sub rosa.

I liked the small-town feel of this novel as well as the vivid descriptions of a beautiful area of the country with which I was not previously familiar. The characters are well drawn, the dialogue realistic, and the puzzle is a difficult one to solve, with suspicion continually shifting as more evidence is uncovered.

This is an impressive first novel by a former staff writer for Reader’s Digest, who specialized in medical and human interest stories.

Syndrome E

Betty Webb

Paris may be the City of Light, but not in this dark mystery, which pits a schizophrenic criminal profiler against a serial killer whose crimes range from France to Egypt. When five mutilated corpses are unearthed during a construction project on the outskirts of Paris, Inspector Franck “Shark” Sharko and Detective Lucie Henebelle are assigned to find out why the men had the top of their skulls cut off and their eyes removed—possibly while still alive. They soon discover that similar mutilations occurred a decade earlier in Egypt, where three young girls were murdered in Cairo. At first, the mutilations appear to be the earmarks of a particularly violent sadist, but Sharko, drawing on his own illness, suspects otherwise.

Following clues hidden in a pornographic film that falls into their hands, Sharko and his partner eventually uncover the killer’s true motive, a motive which turns out to be every bit as shocking as the murders themselves. Sharko is one of the most intriguing protagonists to come along in years. His own wife and child are dead, but he’s never lonely: his hallucinations keep him company. Among them is the bratty nine-year-old Eugenie, who taunts him as Sharko goes about his grim, body-finding business. But Detective Henebelle is intriguing, too. The single mother of two daughters, she is torn between spending time with them and the demands of the case. Henebelle’s mother—who disapproves of her work—is quick to find fault with her daughter’s parenting.

Although there is gore aplenty in Syndrome E (readers with delicate stomaches might want to pass this one by), the emotional difficulties suffered by both detectives turn what could have been a run-of-the-mill snuff book into a masterful psychological suspense novel. Pair beautifully layered characters with strong scenic writing, and author Franck Thilliez delivers one of the most exciting American debuts in years. The French have known for years how good Thilliez is. Now it’s our turn.

Teri Duerr

2014-05-21 17:02:27

Paris may be the City of Light, but not in this dark mystery, which pits a schizophrenic criminal profiler against a serial killer whose crimes range from France to Egypt. When five mutilated corpses are unearthed during a construction project on the outskirts of Paris, Inspector Franck “Shark” Sharko and Detective Lucie Henebelle are assigned to find out why the men had the top of their skulls cut off and their eyes removed—possibly while still alive. They soon discover that similar mutilations occurred a decade earlier in Egypt, where three young girls were murdered in Cairo. At first, the mutilations appear to be the earmarks of a particularly violent sadist, but Sharko, drawing on his own illness, suspects otherwise.

Following clues hidden in a pornographic film that falls into their hands, Sharko and his partner eventually uncover the killer’s true motive, a motive which turns out to be every bit as shocking as the murders themselves. Sharko is one of the most intriguing protagonists to come along in years. His own wife and child are dead, but he’s never lonely: his hallucinations keep him company. Among them is the bratty nine-year-old Eugenie, who taunts him as Sharko goes about his grim, body-finding business. But Detective Henebelle is intriguing, too. The single mother of two daughters, she is torn between spending time with them and the demands of the case. Henebelle’s mother—who disapproves of her work—is quick to find fault with her daughter’s parenting.

Although there is gore aplenty in Syndrome E (readers with delicate stomaches might want to pass this one by), the emotional difficulties suffered by both detectives turn what could have been a run-of-the-mill snuff book into a masterful psychological suspense novel. Pair beautifully layered characters with strong scenic writing, and author Franck Thilliez delivers one of the most exciting American debuts in years. The French have known for years how good Thilliez is. Now it’s our turn.

A Circle of Wives

Sharon Magee

Newly minted Palo Alto, California detective, pigtail-wearing Samantha “Sam” Adams (yes, the beer reference is intentional), is called to the Westin hotel where the renowned Dr. John Taylor has been found dead in his suite. His death is ruled accidental, but when the medical examiner finds signs of foul play, it turns into a high profile murder investigation.

Marriage can be defined in many ways, and in A Circle of Wives, the follow-up to 2012’s highly acclaimed Turn of the Mind, Sam discovers the deceased Dr. Taylor had defined it by marrying three dissimilar women with different lifestyles, all without the benefit of divorce. When all three show up at his funeral, his secret is out.

Sam is sure one of the wives is guilty of murder. But is it Deborah, Taylor’s legal first wife, with her high-society ways who bore his three children; or MJ, the hippie earth mother and accountant who fears losing her home and beautiful gardens now that Taylor is dead; or the brainy Helen, a pediatric oncologist who met Taylor through his pro bono plastic surgery clinic and is hiding a secret of her own? Sam finds good cause to suspect each one. Enter yet another suspect, the beautiful, much younger Claire, a resident at Taylor’s clinic, who claims she was about to become the fourth Mrs. Taylor, and the plot thickens exponentially.

Not only must Sam determine who the guilty party is, but also what drew these intelligent, independent women to this rumpled overweight man. As she tries to unravel this tightly spun marital web, she’s also facing her own relationship issues. Peter, her partner of ten years, is ready to commit to marriage, but Sam is vacillating.

LaPlante’s strong suit is her sharply delineated characters. Told in alternating chapters from the points of view of the three wives and Sam, she draws a vivid picture of what someone will or will not do‚ and the secrets they’ll keep to make a marriage work, whatever its definition.

Teri Duerr

2014-05-21 17:05:31

Newly minted Palo Alto, California detective, pigtail-wearing Samantha “Sam” Adams (yes, the beer reference is intentional), is called to the Westin hotel where the renowned Dr. John Taylor has been found dead in his suite. His death is ruled accidental, but when the medical examiner finds signs of foul play, it turns into a high profile murder investigation.

Marriage can be defined in many ways, and in A Circle of Wives, the follow-up to 2012’s highly acclaimed Turn of the Mind, Sam discovers the deceased Dr. Taylor had defined it by marrying three dissimilar women with different lifestyles, all without the benefit of divorce. When all three show up at his funeral, his secret is out.

Sam is sure one of the wives is guilty of murder. But is it Deborah, Taylor’s legal first wife, with her high-society ways who bore his three children; or MJ, the hippie earth mother and accountant who fears losing her home and beautiful gardens now that Taylor is dead; or the brainy Helen, a pediatric oncologist who met Taylor through his pro bono plastic surgery clinic and is hiding a secret of her own? Sam finds good cause to suspect each one. Enter yet another suspect, the beautiful, much younger Claire, a resident at Taylor’s clinic, who claims she was about to become the fourth Mrs. Taylor, and the plot thickens exponentially.

Not only must Sam determine who the guilty party is, but also what drew these intelligent, independent women to this rumpled overweight man. As she tries to unravel this tightly spun marital web, she’s also facing her own relationship issues. Peter, her partner of ten years, is ready to commit to marriage, but Sam is vacillating.

LaPlante’s strong suit is her sharply delineated characters. Told in alternating chapters from the points of view of the three wives and Sam, she draws a vivid picture of what someone will or will not do‚ and the secrets they’ll keep to make a marriage work, whatever its definition.

Fargo: Intriguing but Too Violent

Oline Cogdill

Beware the overlooked man.

The frustrated, inept, ignored man seething with unresolved violence day and night.

Beware this dormant volcano who one day erupts and cannot rein in his violent tendencies.

That describes insurance salesman Lester Nygaard, a sad sack of a man played to perfection by British actor Martin Freeman in the compelling and disturbing drama Fargo, airing 10 p.m. Tuesdays on FX.

For years, Lester’s diabolical nature has been submerged as he just tried to get through life, knowing that no one had any respect for him—not his wife, his brother, or his boss.

This 40-something man was still being bullied by his high school nemesis who now has brought in his lughead sons to continue the harassment of Lester.

Then one day, Lester has a strange encounter in the emergency room with a drifter named Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton).

In a kind of Strangers on a Train meeting, Malvo, a remorseless killer, somehow encourages Lester to unleash his demons.

Before he knows what is happening, Lester kills his wife and witnesses Malvo’s murder of the police chief.

Although the TV Fargo shares the same name as the 1996 movie, the same frozen rural Minnesota landscape, and droll dark humor, this version is not a continuation of that film by Ethan and Joel Coen, who are listed among the executive producers. Most of the story doesn’t even occur in Fargo, a kind of joke.

The TV version of Fargo is created by Noah Hawley, a producer, screenwriter, composer, and author. His other TV credits include writing and producing the television series Bones.

Hawley also created The Unusuals and My Generation. Hawley’s novels include A Conspiracy of Tall Men, Other People's Weddings, The Punch, and The Good Father.

Marge Gunderson, so wonderfully played by Frances McDormand who received a best actress Oscar for the role in the movie, is nowhere in sight in the TV version.

Presumably, hopefully, Marge and her husband Norm have a wonderful life with more children, and his career as an artist for stamps is thriving. And Marge is still the police chief and she never again has had to witness the carnage she had to endure that day.

In this Fargo reboot, the moral center is another woman cop, this time in Bemidji, Minnesota. Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is an insightful cop who the police chief had been grooming to become a detective and eventually police chief.

But that was before he was murdered and now Officer Solverson is saddled with a new chief, Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk), who is as clueless as he is dismissive of her abilities.

Despite her boss’ orders to leave Lester alone—after all, a milquetoast like him could never harm anyone—Molly continues her own investigation.

She finds an ally in Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks), a fellow police officer over in Duluth, Minn. Gus had an unsettling encounter with Malvo, and he and Molly find a link between Lester and this stranger. But Gus is a reluctant partner. He never wanted to be a cop and, as a single father, his priority is his bright pre-teen daughter.

Tolman and Hanks are terrific in their roles as ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, witnessing violence they cannot comprehend. The two actors also subtly show the loneliness of their characters and the growing attraction each has for the other.

I’ve never cared much for Thornton, even in Sling Blade, but he really gives an outstanding performance as Malvo.

With his odd haircut and steely glaze, Thornton oozes evil. He is not a man but a true evil monster who has no compassion for anyone and kills without thought.

Freeman is such an enjoyable actor who embraces every role, from of Dr. Watson in the new Sherlock Holmes, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the nude body double looking for love in Love Actually, and Tim in the U.K. The Office.

A consummate character actor, Freeman embraces his growing diabolicalness, which was made even more clear in last week’s episode. Lester’s brother sums up his character perfectly: “There’s something wrong with you, Lester. There’s something missing. You’re not right in the world.”

Fargo is beautifully shot, making the most of this snowbound area, showing its beauty and lethalness. Last week’s shootout in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, with myriad whiteouts, was brilliant.

Dark comedy swirls in the FX Fargo, as humor is found the absurd situations. The comedy works well in this series.

The violence often doesn’t.

While the film version had violence, the Coens were careful to show most of it off camera, saving the real impact for that woodchipper. And even in that scene, the viewer—and Marge—came in toward the end, seeing enough of a glimpse to know what was going on without a gratuitous long scene.

The TV Fargo has a level of violence not often seen on the small screen. Even the brilliant Justified, which also airs on FX, or the even more brilliant The Wire, didn’t go this far. And those are stronger series for their restraint.

Fargo’s sixth episode, which aired this past week, was especially disturbing. It went too far in showing every detail. We know when someone is being killed, we don’t need that close-up view. Compelling storytelling shouldn’t make the viewer cringe.

This season of Fargo will have 10 episodes and its ratings have been quite good. It hasn’t been announced yet if the series will be renewed for another season.

I hope we get to visit Fargo again, and please, please bring back Tolman and Hanks.

Although the TV Fargo shares the same name as the 1996 movie, the same frozen rural Minnesota landscape, and droll dark humor, this version is not a continuation of that film by Ethan and Joel Coen, who are listed among the executive producers. Most of the story doesn’t even occur in Fargo, a kind of joke.

The TV version of Fargo is created by Noah Hawley, a producer, screenwriter, composer, and author. His other TV credits include writing and producing the television series Bones.

Hawley also created The Unusuals and My Generation. Hawley’s novels include A Conspiracy of Tall Men, Other People's Weddings, The Punch, and The Good Father.

Marge Gunderson, so wonderfully played by Frances McDormand who received a best actress Oscar for the role in the movie, is nowhere in sight in the TV version.

Presumably, hopefully, Marge and her husband Norm have a wonderful life with more children, and his career as an artist for stamps is thriving. And Marge is still the police chief and she never again has had to witness the carnage she had to endure that day.

In this Fargo reboot, the moral center is another woman cop, this time in Bemidji, Minnesota. Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is an insightful cop who the police chief had been grooming to become a detective and eventually police chief.

But that was before he was murdered and now Officer Solverson is saddled with a new chief, Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk), who is as clueless as he is dismissive of her abilities.

Despite her boss’ orders to leave Lester alone—after all, a milquetoast like him could never harm anyone—Molly continues her own investigation.

She finds an ally in Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks), a fellow police officer over in Duluth, Minn. Gus had an unsettling encounter with Malvo, and he and Molly find a link between Lester and this stranger. But Gus is a reluctant partner. He never wanted to be a cop and, as a single father, his priority is his bright pre-teen daughter.

Tolman and Hanks are terrific in their roles as ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, witnessing violence they cannot comprehend. The two actors also subtly show the loneliness of their characters and the growing attraction each has for the other.

I’ve never cared much for Thornton, even in Sling Blade, but he really gives an outstanding performance as Malvo.

With his odd haircut and steely glaze, Thornton oozes evil. He is not a man but a true evil monster who has no compassion for anyone and kills without thought.

Freeman is such an enjoyable actor who embraces every role, from of Dr. Watson in the new Sherlock Holmes, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the nude body double looking for love in Love Actually, and Tim in the U.K. The Office.

A consummate character actor, Freeman embraces his growing diabolicalness, which was made even more clear in last week’s episode. Lester’s brother sums up his character perfectly: “There’s something wrong with you, Lester. There’s something missing. You’re not right in the world.”

Fargo is beautifully shot, making the most of this snowbound area, showing its beauty and lethalness. Last week’s shootout in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, with myriad whiteouts, was brilliant.

Dark comedy swirls in the FX Fargo, as humor is found the absurd situations. The comedy works well in this series.

The violence often doesn’t.

While the film version had violence, the Coens were careful to show most of it off camera, saving the real impact for that woodchipper. And even in that scene, the viewer—and Marge—came in toward the end, seeing enough of a glimpse to know what was going on without a gratuitous long scene.

The TV Fargo has a level of violence not often seen on the small screen. Even the brilliant Justified, which also airs on FX, or the even more brilliant The Wire, didn’t go this far. And those are stronger series for their restraint.

Fargo’s sixth episode, which aired this past week, was especially disturbing. It went too far in showing every detail. We know when someone is being killed, we don’t need that close-up view. Compelling storytelling shouldn’t make the viewer cringe.

This season of Fargo will have 10 episodes and its ratings have been quite good. It hasn’t been announced yet if the series will be renewed for another season.

I hope we get to visit Fargo again, and please, please bring back Tolman and Hanks.

Alex Segura, left, is a novelist, comic book writer, musician, and journalist whose debuted with Silent City, set in Miami.

Silent City revolves around Pete Fernandez who squandered his once promising career as an investigative sports reporter. Since his return to Miami following the death of his police detective father, Pete spends most of his time drunk, routinely coming to work late and making serious mistakes in his job on the Miami Times’ sports desk. A coworker’s request to find his estranged daughter who has vanished lulls Pete out of his angst.

Here’s what Segura has to say about his career.

Q: Currently, you edit the Archie superhero graphic novels and have written the Archie Meets KISS series. How does your background in graphic novels infuse your crime fiction? A: Comics are very visual—and the really good ones are cinematic and almost fluid in how they present a story. You don’t feel like you’re looking at static images. So, if there was any influence, it was about being concise with words but also clear about the visuals and action. I wanted the prose to be easy to follow and effective and a little rough. The latter was probably more because I was new at it than any grand design. I always envision what I write like a movie—what’s the opening scene? How do we cut from one scene to another? Comics are about merging the visual with the mental, and that's what I tried to bring to the book: a prose story you could see in your mind without much prodding or over-explaining. Whether I succeeded or not is up to the reader.

Q: How different is it in writing crime fiction as opposed to a graphic novel? A: Comics are much more collaborative. You have a writer, an artist—sometimes more than one—a letterer and a colorist. You have to relay your vision to one person and then, like a game of telephone, it continues down the line. Novels are very solitary. You still have people giving input, but it’s usually an editor or agent and it’s usually after you’ve spent a long time writing a draft. It’s much lonelier and less about brainstorming with someone else. It’s more about creating and fine-tuning on your own and then turning it over to someone to give you notes on a completed thing. Whereas comics are about creating parts and leaving other spaces open for others to chime in. It’s more musical, like jamming. Comics—at least writing them—are more akin to putting a puzzle together: I need to fill 20 pages with X amount of action and I have this many panels to play with on a given page. Novels are more free-form, which is great and also hugely intimidating.

Q: Had you considered making Silent City a graphic novel? A: The thought had crossed my mind. But part of me wants to keep the two worlds separate for now. Most of my comic writing has been with Archie—Archie Meets KISS, a few one-offs and I have a few more in the pipeline—which is pretty light, humorous fare. My novels are crime books—gritty, noir, violent, not PG. I don’t want to say never—because who knows, the opportunity may arise—but for now I’d like to keep my crime writing in the prose world and stretch my genre muscles in comics if I can.

That being said, I love me some crime comics. Stuff like 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and Stray Bullets by David Lapham inform all of my writing. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too.

Q: You also have a background in journalism and started as a reporter. Obviously this played a big part in Silent City. A: It did. I think that, plus the setting and a lot of things about Pete, the protagonist, goes back to just writing what I knew at the time. Not because I felt that was a rule, but because I was comfortable doing that. And I also wanted to show a realistic version of Miami and create a person I could see myself hanging out with or knowing back home.

The journalism stuff came naturally because I’d worked as an editor and interned as a reporter in Miami [and in] South Florida. I knew that world and tried to be honest about it. Pete is at a low point in his life, too, so everything is terrible in his eyes. Even though, from an outside perspective, he has a decent job and seems to have friends who care for him. But that’s the case with anyone going through a dark time.

Q: Newspapers have changed a lot since you were a reporter, what kind of research did you do to make your scenes in the newsroom so authentic? A: I have a lot of friends still in the business. I did the first draft based off my own memories and ran them by some beta readers. My editor at Codorus is still in journalism to some degree, and he vetted a lot of it. His validation was really important, because I wanted real journalists—not someone who dabbled for a few years and went on to something else—to read the book and not get jammed up by incorrect details or tonal errors. So, when he and a few others read it and agreed the journalistic descriptions were accurate, I was happy.

Q: While you are a Miami native, it has been a long time since you lived in the Magic City. Why set your novel in South Florida? A: I’ve lived in New York for almost a decade, but Miami still feels like home. I’m not sure that’ll ever go away. And when I first started writing Silent City, I felt completely overwhelmed by New York. I had no sense of the personality or history of the city and felt wholly unprepared to write about it. That’s faded somewhat since then, so I’d feel more comfortable doing a N.Y. book now. I’ve toyed with the idea of bringing Pete to N.Y., but nothing beyond idle thoughts.

Also, a big reason for setting it in Miami was because I hadn’t really read a Miami mystery that spoke to me—aside from Vicki Hendricks’ amazing Miami Purity. Which isn’t to discredit people who have written about Miami or South Florida. I’m sure there are great books that I haven’t read yet. But I wanted to write a story about my hometown as I remembered it, with the kind of characters that I would recognize and that others would, too, or at least find compelling enough to hang out for a while.

Q: What next?A: I’m revising my second novel, Down the Darkest Street. Once that’s locked in, we can figure out when it’ll hit shelves. I’m halfway through a third Pete novel, too, which I’ll shoot to finish once the second one is off. I’m writing some more comics--a few issues of the main ARCHIE title. I also have a short sci-fi story in the upcoming anthology Apollo's Daughters, edited by Bryan Young (Silence in the Library Publishing), and a horror comic short in another upcoming anthology. Those last two are with a co-writer I’ve been friends with for a long time. I also have another Pete short story working its way out of my brain. All tricky to execute with a day job, but so far, so good.

Oline Cogdill

2014-05-28 11:23:19

Alex Segura, left, is a novelist, comic book writer, musician, and journalist whose debuted with Silent City, set in Miami.

Silent City revolves around Pete Fernandez who squandered his once promising career as an investigative sports reporter. Since his return to Miami following the death of his police detective father, Pete spends most of his time drunk, routinely coming to work late and making serious mistakes in his job on the Miami Times’ sports desk. A coworker’s request to find his estranged daughter who has vanished lulls Pete out of his angst.

Here’s what Segura has to say about his career.

Q: Currently, you edit the Archie superhero graphic novels and have written the Archie Meets KISS series. How does your background in graphic novels infuse your crime fiction? A: Comics are very visual—and the really good ones are cinematic and almost fluid in how they present a story. You don’t feel like you’re looking at static images. So, if there was any influence, it was about being concise with words but also clear about the visuals and action. I wanted the prose to be easy to follow and effective and a little rough. The latter was probably more because I was new at it than any grand design. I always envision what I write like a movie—what’s the opening scene? How do we cut from one scene to another? Comics are about merging the visual with the mental, and that's what I tried to bring to the book: a prose story you could see in your mind without much prodding or over-explaining. Whether I succeeded or not is up to the reader.

Q: How different is it in writing crime fiction as opposed to a graphic novel? A: Comics are much more collaborative. You have a writer, an artist—sometimes more than one—a letterer and a colorist. You have to relay your vision to one person and then, like a game of telephone, it continues down the line. Novels are very solitary. You still have people giving input, but it’s usually an editor or agent and it’s usually after you’ve spent a long time writing a draft. It’s much lonelier and less about brainstorming with someone else. It’s more about creating and fine-tuning on your own and then turning it over to someone to give you notes on a completed thing. Whereas comics are about creating parts and leaving other spaces open for others to chime in. It’s more musical, like jamming. Comics—at least writing them—are more akin to putting a puzzle together: I need to fill 20 pages with X amount of action and I have this many panels to play with on a given page. Novels are more free-form, which is great and also hugely intimidating.

Q: Had you considered making Silent City a graphic novel? A: The thought had crossed my mind. But part of me wants to keep the two worlds separate for now. Most of my comic writing has been with Archie—Archie Meets KISS, a few one-offs and I have a few more in the pipeline—which is pretty light, humorous fare. My novels are crime books—gritty, noir, violent, not PG. I don’t want to say never—because who knows, the opportunity may arise—but for now I’d like to keep my crime writing in the prose world and stretch my genre muscles in comics if I can.

That being said, I love me some crime comics. Stuff like 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and Stray Bullets by David Lapham inform all of my writing. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too.

Q: You also have a background in journalism and started as a reporter. Obviously this played a big part in Silent City. A: It did. I think that, plus the setting and a lot of things about Pete, the protagonist, goes back to just writing what I knew at the time. Not because I felt that was a rule, but because I was comfortable doing that. And I also wanted to show a realistic version of Miami and create a person I could see myself hanging out with or knowing back home.

The journalism stuff came naturally because I’d worked as an editor and interned as a reporter in Miami [and in] South Florida. I knew that world and tried to be honest about it. Pete is at a low point in his life, too, so everything is terrible in his eyes. Even though, from an outside perspective, he has a decent job and seems to have friends who care for him. But that’s the case with anyone going through a dark time.

Q: Newspapers have changed a lot since you were a reporter, what kind of research did you do to make your scenes in the newsroom so authentic? A: I have a lot of friends still in the business. I did the first draft based off my own memories and ran them by some beta readers. My editor at Codorus is still in journalism to some degree, and he vetted a lot of it. His validation was really important, because I wanted real journalists—not someone who dabbled for a few years and went on to something else—to read the book and not get jammed up by incorrect details or tonal errors. So, when he and a few others read it and agreed the journalistic descriptions were accurate, I was happy.

Q: While you are a Miami native, it has been a long time since you lived in the Magic City. Why set your novel in South Florida? A: I’ve lived in New York for almost a decade, but Miami still feels like home. I’m not sure that’ll ever go away. And when I first started writing Silent City, I felt completely overwhelmed by New York. I had no sense of the personality or history of the city and felt wholly unprepared to write about it. That’s faded somewhat since then, so I’d feel more comfortable doing a N.Y. book now. I’ve toyed with the idea of bringing Pete to N.Y., but nothing beyond idle thoughts.

Also, a big reason for setting it in Miami was because I hadn’t really read a Miami mystery that spoke to me—aside from Vicki Hendricks’ amazing Miami Purity. Which isn’t to discredit people who have written about Miami or South Florida. I’m sure there are great books that I haven’t read yet. But I wanted to write a story about my hometown as I remembered it, with the kind of characters that I would recognize and that others would, too, or at least find compelling enough to hang out for a while.

Q: What next?A: I’m revising my second novel, Down the Darkest Street. Once that’s locked in, we can figure out when it’ll hit shelves. I’m halfway through a third Pete novel, too, which I’ll shoot to finish once the second one is off. I’m writing some more comics--a few issues of the main ARCHIE title. I also have a short sci-fi story in the upcoming anthology Apollo's Daughters, edited by Bryan Young (Silence in the Library Publishing), and a horror comic short in another upcoming anthology. Those last two are with a co-writer I’ve been friends with for a long time. I also have another Pete short story working its way out of my brain. All tricky to execute with a day job, but so far, so good.

Nero Wolfe: From Page to Stage

Joseph Goodrich

Joseph Goodrich talks process for his new stage adaptation of The Red Box.

My adaptation of The Red Box, the fourth novel in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, just had its world premiere at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, this June. It marks the stage debut of Stout’s corpulent, orchid-fancying crime solver and his irrepressible Man Friday, Archie Goodwin. Moving the inhabitants of a certain brownstone on West 35th Street from the page to the stage was a process that’s taken, from first thought to lights-up, three and a half years.

The initial part of that process reminds me of the great lyricist Ira Gershwin, who was once asked, “Which comes first? The words or the music?”

Gershwin’s answer: “The contract.”

Before I set pen to paper, I needed permission from the Stout estate to dramatize one of the Wolfe stories. It turns out that Rex Stout’s younger daughter Rebecca Bradbury manages the estate, so we were soon corresponding. Obtaining the dramatic rights took the better part of a year, and I understand why. It was not a small decision to make. Legal documents do not grow overnight. But they do grow, and eventually terms were agreed upon, and a contract was signed.

With the question of dramatic rights settled, another question presented itself: Which book to adapt?

I considered a number of titles before deciding on The Red Box. The novellas I'd contemplated using didn't have quite enough action for theatrical purposes, and many of the novels had too much. The Red Box struck me as having the right amount of plot and number of characters. I could trim and condense where necessary without fatally damaging the story. The fact that it was one of the lesser-known titles was also a strength; it would be unfamiliar to many, and perhaps even offer a few surprises to Wolfe aficionados. It's a strong early outing with Wolfe and Goodwin that possesses all the charm and zing we expect from them.

The Red Box. All right. How to—where to—begin?

I began by reading and re-reading the novel until the paperback threatened to fall apart. I must have read it a dozen times before I started writing. Certain aesthetic considerations shaped how I viewed the novel. The Red Box was first published in 1937, and it seemed appropriate to utilize the mainstream theatrical conventions of the era: one set, a limited number of characters engaged in recognizable, psychologically motivated behavior. The play should be compact, fast moving, intriguing—above all, it should be entertaining.

Based on these choices, I decided that Wolfe’s office in the brownstone would be the sole setting. I shortened the time frame from a week to three days to heighten the tension. I eliminated several smaller characters and simplified certain aspects of the plot. I moved the action of one scene from upstate New York to Brooklyn because Archie could get to Brooklyn faster.

Even with these alterations, I believe my adaptation is true to the spirit of the book and to the larger issues of character and relationships that animate the series. Archie Goodwin is the irresistible force. Nero Wolfe is the immovable object. Crime sets the conflict between the two in motion and lends gravity to their struggle—a struggle that’s resolved by the solution of the crime. W.H. Auden once wrote: “When truly brothers, men don’t sing in unison but in harmony.” Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin meld their different personalities, their different gifts, and by doing so restore a kind of order. They harmonize beautifully.

The penultimate part of the process occurred last fall, when Park Square Theatre held a three-day, in-house workshop of the play. I heard it aloud for the first time; met the director and cast; and, most importantly, made revisions based on what I heard and saw. I made many small changes and cuts, added material here and there, fleshed out a character or two, straightened out a sentence. The play is sharper and clearer because of those three intense days, and clarity is essential for a mystery play.

The final part of the process began on May 30, when previews commence, and reaches another level on June 6, opening night. The play runs through July 13, 2014

It’s hard to believe that three and a half years have elapsed since I asked myself, “Would it be possible to bring Nero Wolfe to the stage?” Luckily, the entire process has been, as Wolfe himself would say, “satisfactory.” My hope is that all who have the chance to see the production in St. Paul will agree.

Joseph Goodrich is an author and dramatist whose plays have been produced across the United States. Panic received the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Play. He is the editor of Blood Relations: The Selected Letters of Ellery Queen, 1947-1950, which was nominated for Anthony and Agatha awards. He is an active member of Mystery Writers of America, an alumnus of New Dramatists, and a former Calderwood Fellow at the MacDowell Colony. He lives in New York City.

WIN TICKETS TO THE SHOW!

The Red Box, a Nero Wolfe mystery directed by Peter Moore and adapted for the stage from the writing of Rex Stout by Joseph Goodrich, runs from May 30 - July 13, 2014 at the Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Send us an email by June 16, 2014, with your name and contact info This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and be entered to win a pair of free tickets to the show in St. Paul, Minnesota! Bonus entry if you can name what magazine The Red Box was first serially published in when it appeared in 1936. See you at the theater!

Tempest Storm is 80 and still stripping. Indeed, this past June at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas she did the bump and grind, and didn’t dislocate her hip, at the annual All-Star Burlesque Weekend. Her hair is dyed a brilliant orange to match her neon orange nails. “I just don’t get up there and rip my clothes off,” the G-string queen noted. Her contemporaries Blaze Starr and Lili St. Cyr may have been discarded to the broken pole dustbin of stripper history, but not Ms. Storm. She kept performing in Vegas, Reno, Palm Springs, Miami, and even at Carnegie Hall. Imagine Death at the Bob Hope Memorial Retirement Home in Palm Springs as Ms. Storm does her thing and sends some of the old boys—and a few women probably—into apoplectic shock.

But what the heck, you ask, does the “Girl with that Fabulous Front,” who once had those assets insured by Lloyds of London, have to do with the mystery field? Well, wonder no more, for in 1967 Ms. Storm, playing Miss Tango, the owner of the Temple of Beauty Health Club, starred in Mundo Depravados or the World of the Depraved—though apparently also known as Meet Me Under the Bed in its initial release. The plot of this comedic puzzler, as it were, concerns some dude in a trench coat going around attacking the female members of this spa and two inept cops who show up to solve the mess. Alas, Tempest bares nothing in this effort, save her acting talent, while the younger women in this epic bare some skin.

Insignificant, you’d say. Well, yes, except there is a subgenre of mystery and crime films that miss the mark wide, shall we say, that are worth viewing in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind of way. Actually, Mickey Spillane is in two of these bad boys. In Ring of Fear, he gets second billing to Clyde Beatty as he plays himself called in by Pat O’Brien, the owner of the Clyde Beatty Circus, to investigate some shady doings at the circus. Then there’s The Girl Hunters, wherein Mickey plays his own famous PI creation, Mike Hammer. Girl Hunters does have a pretty good fight scene in a barn with the hero’s nemesis, The Dragon. The Two Jakes, the sequel to the near-flawless Chinatown belongs in this mish-mosh of Mondo Weird works, as well as the horrid butchery of the V.I. Warshawski movie starring Kathleen Turner.

But back to Tempest and her film, which had something going for it behind the scenes, a real hook, the twist you seek to read or write in the crafting of the mystery. The film was written (and that might be a kind word here) and directed by Tempest’s then-husband, singer and actor Herb Jeffries. They divorced three years after the movie came out—draw your own conclusions.

Yet for some years I knew that Herb Jeffries, before he had diverse small roles on Hawaii 5-0, had starred in four low budget cowboy flicks in the late ’30s that earned him the moniker the Bronze Buckaroo. For these were films with black casts aimed at black audiences. Later Jeffries, a commanding baritone, would be a crooner with the Duke Ellington and Earl “Fatha” Himes bands. The thing is, Herb is not black, not one bit. Because of the movies and his association with the aforementioned bands, he was naturally thought to be part black. Jeffries himself at times claimed to be Creole.

But as he recounts in the recent documentary A Colored Life: The Herb Jeffries Story—which I saw at the Pan African Film Festival this year—the Detroit’s native’s biological father was Sicilian and his mother Irish-Canadian. After Umberto Alesandro Valentino’s father died in WWI, his Irish-Canadian mother remarried an Ethiopian immigrant named Jeffries.

Herb, like Johnny Otis, became a voluntary black man, willingly stripping himself of his identity to, ironically considering the times, advance his career. Really, Johnny never pretended to be black per se but dropped in and never left. Herb at some point in the ’50s just as easily slipped back across the color line to “become” white again. But until I saw that doc, I always assumed he was part black.

This racial crossing/obfuscating is another subgenre, a theme used in several mystery books and films. Devil in a Blue Dress comes to mind as does the little seen but intriguing picture Slow Burn. So as the octogenarian sex bomb Tempest Storm slowly and artfully removes her garments under the glare of the lights, I can’t help but reflect how her ex-husband, once upon a time, fandangled with the garments of race while the music played.

My Mondays are now booked with the return of Longmire, the western crime drama based on Craig Johnson’s series about Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire.

Longmire’s third season airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on A&E, with frequent encores.

Australian actor Robert Taylor, left, plays the Wyoming lawman.

It’s not become a tradition—OK, two years in a row now—to move the publication date of Johnson’s latest novel to coincide with the start of the TV series.

The 10th Longmire novel Any Other Name (Viking) just hit the bookshelves and reading devices a couple of weeks ago.

In Any Other Name, Walt is asked by his former boss, Lucian Conally, to investigate the death of detective Gerald Holman in an adjacent county. Lucian wants to find out what drove Gerald to commit suicide.

My Mondays are now booked with the return of Longmire, the western crime drama based on Craig Johnson’s series about Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire.

Longmire’s third season airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on A&E, with frequent encores.

Australian actor Robert Taylor, left, plays the Wyoming lawman.

It’s not become a tradition—OK, two years in a row now—to move the publication date of Johnson’s latest novel to coincide with the start of the TV series.

The 10th Longmire novel Any Other Name (Viking) just hit the bookshelves and reading devices a couple of weeks ago.

In Any Other Name, Walt is asked by his former boss, Lucian Conally, to investigate the death of detective Gerald Holman in an adjacent county. Lucian wants to find out what drove Gerald to commit suicide.

Set during WWII, the series follows Maggie Hope, who starts as a “typist” for Winston Churchill but, because of her perceptive skills, ends up becoming a spy for the British. MacNeal’s series is known for its meticulous research and complex, believable characters.

The latest novel in this series, The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, opens in 1941 with Maggie working as an instructor at an agent training facility in Scotland. Maggie has been suffering from a “black dog” of depression and the instructor job is a way to get her back on her feet, and, hopefully, back in the field as Britain needs her unique talents. But a series of unusual deaths at the facility bring new lessons for Maggie.

To go with the theme of The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, MacNeal decided to find out what kind of a spy her readers would be.

“Since the SOE (Special Operations Executive) was made up of real people with little to no military/spy training, I thought it would be fun to ask folks if they thought they'd make a good spy. I have my own ideas, but I thought it would be fun to hear,” said MacNeal in an email.

(By the way, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British World War II organization formed to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.)

The contest was conducted via Facebook. For a judge, MacNeal turned to a very special person to make the final decision—her 9-year-old son, Mattie.

The winners are readers Megan Walline and Leila Ghaznavi.

Megan won Maddie’s vote when she stated “I would make a good spy because I will mail a box of candy to Mattie if I win the contest. Is that wrong?”

Leila said she would make a good spy because “I'd be a good spy because I'm small and would fit into tight spaces so I can ease drop on people. Also I have brown hair so I blend into the blackness of alleyways. Plus I've trained in aerial acrobatics so I can hang from high places unseen!"

A few other readers offered their ideas on espionage:

Colleen Turner: “I would make a good spy for a number of reasons: I'm super short, have a young looking face, blind hair and blue eyes and very often get taken for sweet and harmless...which I could use to my advantage to infiltrate the enemy and bring them down ! Also, I am very organized and therefore would never misplace my spy equipment or intel or forget where I hid it if the need arose to escape in a flash!”

Kelly Sullinger Bales: “I’m already a spy; I’m a teacher who hears everything without being seen; knows when the fight is going to happen and breaks it up before it begins; I am around some deviant students who pass off as harmless ones; plus I'm always on the clock. And a teacher as a spy is too cool...I've already been in the trenches and know the weapons (spit balls, paper wads, and lack of deodorant)!!”

Jennifer Marie: “I'd make a great spy. I am a mom. I watch them all day every day. I look to see if their eyes are glassy and might be getting sick. I watch to see if their smile is a touch less bright. And I can always tell when my child is lying.”

Kelly Sullinger Bales: “I've read your books to my students when we did our WWII unit so they could get a better picture of what life was like for Europeans during the war...they loved it! Me too, of course!”

Kathleen Fannon: “I would make a good spy because I have sneak skills honed by years as a mother, I know how to keep a secret because I am a good friend, I am a librarian so I know how to research anything, and since I was a kid once myself, I am good at disappearing when I don't want to do something.”

Airieanne Andrews: “I'd make a good spy because I'm a stealthy lady. I can hide in plain view, sail, shoot, smile, and waive your overdue book fees at the library.”

Sara Miller: “I would be a great spy because 1) I would be the last person people would suspect of being a spy, 2) I can get even the strangest people to talk to me and 3) Even if I tell an enemy my real name, it would be nearly impossible to track me down.”

Mystery Scene suggest our readers buy a copy of The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent and tell us what kind of spy you think you would make.

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-03 19:19:16

Giving away advanced readers’ copies of a new book isn’t exactly a new idea. Authors have been doing this for decades, to promote an upcoming book or reward devoted readers.

Set during WWII, the series follows Maggie Hope, who starts as a “typist” for Winston Churchill but, because of her perceptive skills, ends up becoming a spy for the British. MacNeal’s series is known for its meticulous research and complex, believable characters.

The latest novel in this series, The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, opens in 1941 with Maggie working as an instructor at an agent training facility in Scotland. Maggie has been suffering from a “black dog” of depression and the instructor job is a way to get her back on her feet, and, hopefully, back in the field as Britain needs her unique talents. But a series of unusual deaths at the facility bring new lessons for Maggie.

To go with the theme of The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, MacNeal decided to find out what kind of a spy her readers would be.

“Since the SOE (Special Operations Executive) was made up of real people with little to no military/spy training, I thought it would be fun to ask folks if they thought they'd make a good spy. I have my own ideas, but I thought it would be fun to hear,” said MacNeal in an email.

(By the way, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British World War II organization formed to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.)

The contest was conducted via Facebook. For a judge, MacNeal turned to a very special person to make the final decision—her 9-year-old son, Mattie.

The winners are readers Megan Walline and Leila Ghaznavi.

Megan won Maddie’s vote when she stated “I would make a good spy because I will mail a box of candy to Mattie if I win the contest. Is that wrong?”

Leila said she would make a good spy because “I'd be a good spy because I'm small and would fit into tight spaces so I can ease drop on people. Also I have brown hair so I blend into the blackness of alleyways. Plus I've trained in aerial acrobatics so I can hang from high places unseen!"

A few other readers offered their ideas on espionage:

Colleen Turner: “I would make a good spy for a number of reasons: I'm super short, have a young looking face, blind hair and blue eyes and very often get taken for sweet and harmless...which I could use to my advantage to infiltrate the enemy and bring them down ! Also, I am very organized and therefore would never misplace my spy equipment or intel or forget where I hid it if the need arose to escape in a flash!”

Kelly Sullinger Bales: “I’m already a spy; I’m a teacher who hears everything without being seen; knows when the fight is going to happen and breaks it up before it begins; I am around some deviant students who pass off as harmless ones; plus I'm always on the clock. And a teacher as a spy is too cool...I've already been in the trenches and know the weapons (spit balls, paper wads, and lack of deodorant)!!”

Jennifer Marie: “I'd make a great spy. I am a mom. I watch them all day every day. I look to see if their eyes are glassy and might be getting sick. I watch to see if their smile is a touch less bright. And I can always tell when my child is lying.”

Kelly Sullinger Bales: “I've read your books to my students when we did our WWII unit so they could get a better picture of what life was like for Europeans during the war...they loved it! Me too, of course!”

Kathleen Fannon: “I would make a good spy because I have sneak skills honed by years as a mother, I know how to keep a secret because I am a good friend, I am a librarian so I know how to research anything, and since I was a kid once myself, I am good at disappearing when I don't want to do something.”

Airieanne Andrews: “I'd make a good spy because I'm a stealthy lady. I can hide in plain view, sail, shoot, smile, and waive your overdue book fees at the library.”

Sara Miller: “I would be a great spy because 1) I would be the last person people would suspect of being a spy, 2) I can get even the strangest people to talk to me and 3) Even if I tell an enemy my real name, it would be nearly impossible to track me down.”

Mystery Scene suggest our readers buy a copy of The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent and tell us what kind of spy you think you would make.

Rita Mae Brown on Becoming a Card Carrying Reader

Rita Mae Brown

"The Classics have guided my life."

Author Rita Mae Brown and pet friends. Photo by Mary Motley Kalergis.

I received my first library card at age five. The librarian protested that I was too young for a card so my adopted mother, who was related to my natural mother (our family is mixed up like a dog’s breakfast), pulled over a library chair, commanded me to climb up, grabbed a returned library book, which was Little Women, and commanded, “Read.”

I did. My card, issued in haste, was much used and treasured. The first book I checked out was a small light blue book, easy to hold in small hands, Bulfinch’s Mythology. I loved it then, I love it now. A copy sits on the Louis XVI desk in the living room along with a few avid cat readers.

The Classics have guided my life. Years of Latin and two years of Greek allowed me to read fully on not only the basis of all Western literature but of our culture. To confront plays, histories, and politics disguised as history undiluted was, and remains, a gift that cannot be overestimated. It is a well from which our Founding Fathers drunk deeply.

Currently, I am reading Cop Town, by Karin Slaughter in bound galleys. In the kitchen rests The Men Who Lost America, by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy. I’m halfway through it and plain dazzled. I just reread Caroline Alexander’s The War That Killed Achilles. I needed to read it twice—and think this is a book I will have to revisit once a year, for it reveals the true Western ethic of war coupled with a hatred of war, right there in the wellspring of our literature. This is a ravishing work and not a little difficult (for me anyway).

I am also rereading Robert Graves’ two volumes of The Greek Myths. One can never read enough Graves.

I can’t wait to read Dying Every Day about Seneca. Lest you think I rarely stray from ancient texts, I giggled through Full Service by Scotty Bowes, a delicious sexual memoir of Hollywood in its glory days.

As you have gathered, I am a promiscuous reader. There’s even the new biography of John Wayne, by Scott Eyman by the bed, plus When the Lion Feeds, by Wilbur A. Smith, his first book of a long career.

Barclay Rives just sent me his newly published book A Country to Serve, about his ancestor William Cabell Rives. If you are a Virginian, you will recognize the surnames Rives and Cabell. We can never get enough of ourselves, a Virginian virtue or sin depending on your outlook.

Reading is breathing for the mind.

Since I have been asked to burble about my reading life I will tell you something I have never before mentioned, which is I was born to hounds and horses, a love predating language. I played with those four-footed wonderful animals before I could speak. Then I also learned to love language, especially English. And so I am reading Xenophon and Arrian on Hunting (With Hounds). Life comes full circle, doesn’t it?

Note: Xenophone born 430 BC wrote of his military experiences, on hunting with hounds and wrote a book on horsemanship as useful today as when he wrote it. Arrian lived 95 AD to 175 AD.

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown series; the Sister Jane series; A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle; In Her Day; and Six of One, as well as several other novels. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia.

This "Writers on Reading" essay was originally published in "At the Scene" eNews June 2014 as a first-look exclusive to our enewsletter subscribers. For more special content available first to our enewsletter subscribers, sign up here.

Teri Duerr

2014-06-05 14:09:20

"The Classics have guided my life."

2014 Arthur Ellis Award Winners Announced

Mystery Scene

The winners of the 2014 Arthur Ellis Awards have been announced, including the winner of the CWC (Crime Writers of Canada) Grand Master Award for Crime Writing in Canada.

This is the inaugural year of the CWC Grand Master Award, intended to recognize Canadian crime writers who have a substantial body of work that has garnered national and international recognition.

Howard Engel, the author of the award-winning Benny Cooperman detective series. A mainstay of the Canadian crime writing scene for many years, Mr. Engel helped put Canadian crime writing on the map at a time when few mysteries were set in the country.

Teri Duerr

2014-06-05 15:33:52

The winners of the 2014 Arthur Ellis Awards have been announced, including the winner of the CWC (Crime Writers of Canada) Grand Master Award for Crime Writing in Canada.

Congratulations to all of this year's Arthur winners and finalists!

Books Are Big and We Mean Big

Oline Cogdill

We always hear about the demise of reading, how the public doesn’t read books anymore and book buying is going the way of the 8-track player. (Google 8-track player if you don’t know what that is.)

Well, if that is true then why has the dispute between Hachette and Amazon become national news? Even a segment on the Cobert Report?

So the demise of reading, like Mark Twain’s death, has been greatly exaggerated.

But are we also entering the world of the big book? By that I don’t mean big blockbusters or books that get big attention.

I mean the big book. BIG. The thick, more than 500 page books that could double as doorstops.

This year several of these huge tomes have crossed my desk. And I often wonder as I heft up these hefty books, are these lengths necessary? Can these stories be told in half the size, and better? In newspapers we used to have a joke—I wrote a good story that was 60 inches (which is how journalists measure articles) but turned it into a great story that was 40 inches. And of course, there is the phrase, less is more.

So let’s take a look at some of these big books, and, I have read each of them.

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker, translated from the French by Sam Taylor. Penguin. Length 656 pages—This international best seller has been getting big push from its publisher and with good reason. Yes, the story is repetitive and sometimes unwieldy but it also moves at break-neck speed, entrapping the reader in the story a young author with writer’s block trying to help his mentor accused of murder. Could a 200 or 300 trim have made this a better novel? Probably. But I still enjoyed it and got wrapped in its ambitious, multi-layered story that tackles themes of loyalty, fiction vs. reality, fame, and is a mini-course in writing. Harry Quebert is one of America’s most respected and loved novelists until the remains of Nola Kellergan and a manuscript of his bestseller are found on his estate 33 years after the 15-year-old disappeared. Marcus Goldman, Harry’s successful protégé, travels to New Hampshire to try to clear his friend, and find his own next novel.

The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Marlaine Delargy. Pegasus Crime. Length: 544 pages—Swedish writer Läckberg sets her superior novels in the coastal village Fjällbacka and each outing is unique. Her terrific fifth novel serves as a fascinating history of a family dating back to WWII while looking at the Neo-Nazi movements in Sweden. The story never lags as it shows how horrific secrets can fester, affecting the present. Läckberg’s lively plot smoothly moves from a year during WWII to contemporary times in which an old man’s murder launches a police investigation.

Natchez Burningby Greg Iles. Morrow. Length: 800 pages—Greg Iles’ fourth novel also is getting a big push from its publisher, with a tour and lots of publicity. Natchez Burning is a bold look at the Civil Rights Movement that smoothly alternates between 1964 and 2005. It also is way too long. Repetitive scenes and predictable villains dilute the impact of the racism and violence. Natchez, Miss., lawyer Penn Cage is stunned when his highly respected physician father, Tom, is accused of murdering his former nurse, Viola Turner, an African American who worked with him during the 1960s. I had very mixed feelings about this novel. The plot is realistic and Iles skillfully moves the story between the decades. But this is the start of a trilogy, but its length is a problem. This would have been a stronger story at 400 pages.

Ripperby Isabel Allende. Harper. Length: 496 pages—While this may be the shortest novel in this list, its overdone plot, weak characters, and uninteresting details stop this story in the first chapter. These 496 pages seemed like 800. My dislike of this novel was chronicled in a review that ran a couple of weeks before Isabel Allende called the book “a joke” during an NPR interview. “The book is tongue in cheek. It's very ironic ... and I’m not a fan of mysteries . . . . So I thought, I will take the genre, write a mystery that is faithful to the formula and to what the readers expect, but it is a joke,” according to the NPR interview. She later apologized in another interview when reader backlash began. An author’s opinions on the genre, storytelling, or readers means nothing to me, nor should it mean anything to readers. What matters—to me and, hopefully, readers—is does the story deliver. It does not. Ripper revolves around a world-wide online community of amateur sleuths united to solve a series of bizarre killings in San Francisco. The leader is high school senior Amanda Martin, who is assisted by her pharmacist grandfather, Blake Jackson.

And here another novel that I have not read but is massive in length:

We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas. Simon & Schuster. Length: 640 pages—To be published in August, this debut from a 39-year-old English teacher is a look at an Irish immigrant family that spans the decades. Again, I have not read it but it is garnering positive advance reviews.

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-08 00:56:25

We always hear about the demise of reading, how the public doesn’t read books anymore and book buying is going the way of the 8-track player. (Google 8-track player if you don’t know what that is.)

Well, if that is true then why has the dispute between Hachette and Amazon become national news? Even a segment on the Cobert Report?

So the demise of reading, like Mark Twain’s death, has been greatly exaggerated.

But are we also entering the world of the big book? By that I don’t mean big blockbusters or books that get big attention.

I mean the big book. BIG. The thick, more than 500 page books that could double as doorstops.

This year several of these huge tomes have crossed my desk. And I often wonder as I heft up these hefty books, are these lengths necessary? Can these stories be told in half the size, and better? In newspapers we used to have a joke—I wrote a good story that was 60 inches (which is how journalists measure articles) but turned it into a great story that was 40 inches. And of course, there is the phrase, less is more.

So let’s take a look at some of these big books, and, I have read each of them.

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker, translated from the French by Sam Taylor. Penguin. Length 656 pages—This international best seller has been getting big push from its publisher and with good reason. Yes, the story is repetitive and sometimes unwieldy but it also moves at break-neck speed, entrapping the reader in the story a young author with writer’s block trying to help his mentor accused of murder. Could a 200 or 300 trim have made this a better novel? Probably. But I still enjoyed it and got wrapped in its ambitious, multi-layered story that tackles themes of loyalty, fiction vs. reality, fame, and is a mini-course in writing. Harry Quebert is one of America’s most respected and loved novelists until the remains of Nola Kellergan and a manuscript of his bestseller are found on his estate 33 years after the 15-year-old disappeared. Marcus Goldman, Harry’s successful protégé, travels to New Hampshire to try to clear his friend, and find his own next novel.

The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Marlaine Delargy. Pegasus Crime. Length: 544 pages—Swedish writer Läckberg sets her superior novels in the coastal village Fjällbacka and each outing is unique. Her terrific fifth novel serves as a fascinating history of a family dating back to WWII while looking at the Neo-Nazi movements in Sweden. The story never lags as it shows how horrific secrets can fester, affecting the present. Läckberg’s lively plot smoothly moves from a year during WWII to contemporary times in which an old man’s murder launches a police investigation.

Natchez Burningby Greg Iles. Morrow. Length: 800 pages—Greg Iles’ fourth novel also is getting a big push from its publisher, with a tour and lots of publicity. Natchez Burning is a bold look at the Civil Rights Movement that smoothly alternates between 1964 and 2005. It also is way too long. Repetitive scenes and predictable villains dilute the impact of the racism and violence. Natchez, Miss., lawyer Penn Cage is stunned when his highly respected physician father, Tom, is accused of murdering his former nurse, Viola Turner, an African American who worked with him during the 1960s. I had very mixed feelings about this novel. The plot is realistic and Iles skillfully moves the story between the decades. But this is the start of a trilogy, but its length is a problem. This would have been a stronger story at 400 pages.

Ripperby Isabel Allende. Harper. Length: 496 pages—While this may be the shortest novel in this list, its overdone plot, weak characters, and uninteresting details stop this story in the first chapter. These 496 pages seemed like 800. My dislike of this novel was chronicled in a review that ran a couple of weeks before Isabel Allende called the book “a joke” during an NPR interview. “The book is tongue in cheek. It's very ironic ... and I’m not a fan of mysteries . . . . So I thought, I will take the genre, write a mystery that is faithful to the formula and to what the readers expect, but it is a joke,” according to the NPR interview. She later apologized in another interview when reader backlash began. An author’s opinions on the genre, storytelling, or readers means nothing to me, nor should it mean anything to readers. What matters—to me and, hopefully, readers—is does the story deliver. It does not. Ripper revolves around a world-wide online community of amateur sleuths united to solve a series of bizarre killings in San Francisco. The leader is high school senior Amanda Martin, who is assisted by her pharmacist grandfather, Blake Jackson.

And here another novel that I have not read but is massive in length:

We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas. Simon & Schuster. Length: 640 pages—To be published in August, this debut from a 39-year-old English teacher is a look at an Irish immigrant family that spans the decades. Again, I have not read it but it is garnering positive advance reviews.

Harris’ Aurora Teagarden books are going to be brought to the Hallmark Channel as a series of two-hour movies.

The movies will star Candace Cameron Bure, who you may remember in the role of D. J. Tanner, the eldest daughter, on the television series Full House, which she played from ages 10 to 18.

The plan is that these two-hour made for TV films might be on the air as early as January, but that is still to be determined. As we all know, when dealing with the film/TV industry, anything can happen.

Harris is thrilled about the prospect of bringing this much loved series to the screen.

“I am very cognizant that this will be a really different product and process from my experience at HBO, and I look forward to learning even more about how things work on the west coast,” Harris told Mystery Scene in an email.

I loved this series by Harris and it should make an entertaining addition to the Hallmark Channel. The series began in 1990 with Real Murders and Harris published six novels about Aurora Teagarden, but there is plenty of groundwork for more stories.

The Aurora Teagarden novels are set in a small Georgia town where librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. This pastime becomes real when a member’s murder eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. Other “copycat” killings follow.

Harris’ latest novel is Midnight Crossroad, which begins a new series for this author.

Harris’ Aurora Teagarden books are going to be brought to the Hallmark Channel as a series of two-hour movies.

The movies will star Candace Cameron Bure, who you may remember in the role of D. J. Tanner, the eldest daughter, on the television series Full House, which she played from ages 10 to 18.

The plan is that these two-hour made for TV films might be on the air as early as January, but that is still to be determined. As we all know, when dealing with the film/TV industry, anything can happen.

Harris is thrilled about the prospect of bringing this much loved series to the screen.

“I am very cognizant that this will be a really different product and process from my experience at HBO, and I look forward to learning even more about how things work on the west coast,” Harris told Mystery Scene in an email.

I loved this series by Harris and it should make an entertaining addition to the Hallmark Channel. The series began in 1990 with Real Murders and Harris published six novels about Aurora Teagarden, but there is plenty of groundwork for more stories.

The Aurora Teagarden novels are set in a small Georgia town where librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden is a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. This pastime becomes real when a member’s murder eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. Other “copycat” killings follow.

Harris’ latest novel is Midnight Crossroad, which begins a new series for this author.

Shamus 2014 Nominations

Oline Cogdill

The Private Eye Writers of America announce the finalists for the Shamus Award for works published in 2013. (The categories below are in alphabetical order by author.)

The winners will be announced at the PWA Banquet at Bouchercon in Long Beach, Calif., on Friday, November 14.

But now Downing turns his attention to the First World War in Jack of Spies (Soho), for which the British author will be touring the U.S. for the first time. Jack of Spies will be published on May 13.

Some of the best and most involving espionage novels aren’t about super-spys, the James Bonds, but about ordinary people caught up in circumstances beyond their control.

And that is what Downing does in Jack of Spies. Set in 1913, on the eve of WWI, the novel’s hero is Jack McColl, a Scottish luxury car salesman. McColl has a knack for languages and he served England during the Boer War. Being a globetrotting car salesman proves to be the perfect cover to gather some light intelligence for Great Britain.

But “light espionage” won’t cut it when the world is on the brink of disaster, when war—a horrific war—looms over the U.K., Germany and Europe.

Jack is kind of playing at being a spy, supplementing his Royal Navy pay with his sales commissions. He’s in China showing a magnificent bottle-green Maya automobile, strolling along the harbor and snapping photos and watching the movement of ships. He’s not above paying the occasional prostitute to tell what her German clients talk about.

But this is not the time to dabble in spy craft. And as the situation intensifies, Jack is pulled into the spy business. In addition to the politics that will result in WWI, Downing also fills Jack of Spies a look at Irish and Indian revolutionary causes that were shaping the political landscape.

Jack of Spies is set in Tsingtao, San Francisco, New York, Tampico and Dublin, on steamliners and cross-country trains, reflective of the time.

Jack of Spieshad received a lot of pre-publication buzz, and had been chosen by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) as its June IndieNextList, It’s also been picked as one of the Top Ten Mysteries & Thrillers Pick for Spring 2014 and is a Library Journal Editor’s Pick for Spring 2014.

While I post interviews on this blog that I have conducted, the Soho site has an interesting discussion with Downing about his new series and his thoughts on WWI and WWII.

On why Downing decided to write about WWI: “The Second World War was more horrendous than the First in many ways—most notably in the number of civilians killed—but I’ve always felt that the latter was more of game-changer, and I wanted to write a series that reflected the move away from conflicts between established nation states, and the increasing importance of the class, gender and colonial conflicts raging inside them.”

On Downing’s new hero: “I wanted a protagonist who would find these changes hard to cope with, but struggle to do so nevertheless. In the ‘Station’ series John Russell was always politically-motivated, and his views at the end have hardly changed at all, but in the new series British agent Jack McColl is more of a blank slate, politically speaking. The events he witnesses and the people he meets will confront him with many uncomfortable choices.

On the political landscape of the time, including the Irish Republican movement; the Indian independence movement; the Paterson strikes and workers’ rights; the Tampico Affair: “In 1914 there was no shortage of places where the British Empire was being threatened in one way or another. In Jack of Spies he turns up in China, the US, Mexico and Ireland, but it could have been any number of exotic destinations. And my female protagonist, Caitlin, a radical New York journalist, would have been all too aware of the Paterson strike and its aftermath in 1913-14.”

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-11 09:01:27

Our fascination with WWI should never end.

This so-called Great War was a game changer in so many ways in the way it restructured combat, politics and society.

I think our fascination has nothing to do with Downton Abbey, though that has increased some awareness, and everything to do how we view our history.

But now Downing turns his attention to the First World War in Jack of Spies (Soho), for which the British author will be touring the U.S. for the first time. Jack of Spies will be published on May 13.

Some of the best and most involving espionage novels aren’t about super-spys, the James Bonds, but about ordinary people caught up in circumstances beyond their control.

And that is what Downing does in Jack of Spies. Set in 1913, on the eve of WWI, the novel’s hero is Jack McColl, a Scottish luxury car salesman. McColl has a knack for languages and he served England during the Boer War. Being a globetrotting car salesman proves to be the perfect cover to gather some light intelligence for Great Britain.

But “light espionage” won’t cut it when the world is on the brink of disaster, when war—a horrific war—looms over the U.K., Germany and Europe.

Jack is kind of playing at being a spy, supplementing his Royal Navy pay with his sales commissions. He’s in China showing a magnificent bottle-green Maya automobile, strolling along the harbor and snapping photos and watching the movement of ships. He’s not above paying the occasional prostitute to tell what her German clients talk about.

But this is not the time to dabble in spy craft. And as the situation intensifies, Jack is pulled into the spy business. In addition to the politics that will result in WWI, Downing also fills Jack of Spies a look at Irish and Indian revolutionary causes that were shaping the political landscape.

Jack of Spies is set in Tsingtao, San Francisco, New York, Tampico and Dublin, on steamliners and cross-country trains, reflective of the time.

Jack of Spieshad received a lot of pre-publication buzz, and had been chosen by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) as its June IndieNextList, It’s also been picked as one of the Top Ten Mysteries & Thrillers Pick for Spring 2014 and is a Library Journal Editor’s Pick for Spring 2014.

While I post interviews on this blog that I have conducted, the Soho site has an interesting discussion with Downing about his new series and his thoughts on WWI and WWII.

On why Downing decided to write about WWI: “The Second World War was more horrendous than the First in many ways—most notably in the number of civilians killed—but I’ve always felt that the latter was more of game-changer, and I wanted to write a series that reflected the move away from conflicts between established nation states, and the increasing importance of the class, gender and colonial conflicts raging inside them.”

On Downing’s new hero: “I wanted a protagonist who would find these changes hard to cope with, but struggle to do so nevertheless. In the ‘Station’ series John Russell was always politically-motivated, and his views at the end have hardly changed at all, but in the new series British agent Jack McColl is more of a blank slate, politically speaking. The events he witnesses and the people he meets will confront him with many uncomfortable choices.

On the political landscape of the time, including the Irish Republican movement; the Indian independence movement; the Paterson strikes and workers’ rights; the Tampico Affair: “In 1914 there was no shortage of places where the British Empire was being threatened in one way or another. In Jack of Spies he turns up in China, the US, Mexico and Ireland, but it could have been any number of exotic destinations. And my female protagonist, Caitlin, a radical New York journalist, would have been all too aware of the Paterson strike and its aftermath in 1913-14.”

A Talk With Joel Dicker

Oline Cogdill

Joël Dicker’s The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Penguin) is one of the summer’s most talked about novels. Now making its U.S. debut, the Swiss-born, 29-year-old’s novel became an immediate international bestseller when it was released in Europe during 2012.

Set in a quintessential small town in New Hampshire, the novel revolves around Marcus Goldman, a young author who had a massive blockbuster a couple of years ago and is now suffering from a massive bout of writer’s block. Then Marcus’ mentor, Harry Quebert, is arrested for murder when the body of Nola Kellergan is found on his land more than 33 years after the teenager disappeared. Marcus travels to New Hampshire to support Harry, and, as a result, may find his way into his next book.

Here's a brief chat with Dicker, left.

Q: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair weighs in at 636 pages; did you ever think about making it shorter? A: I cut over 300 pages while writing this book. So, I guess I can tell you that the story could have been even longer! On a more serious note, I did ask myself if I should take out a few of the twists. But in the end I preferred to leave the book as it was, in order to convey my own enthusiasm to my readers.

Q: What are your favorite novels? A:The Sea Wall, by Marguerite Duras. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Belle du Seigneur, by Albert Cohen. Poor Folk, by Doistoievski.

Q: Are you amazed at the response that The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair received in the European markets? A: Obviously: how could I have ever imagined, when signing the publication of my book in a tiny Parisian publishing house, that my book would be translated into 37 languages and read by millions of people? I am very thankful for everything that is happening to me.

Q: What are your thoughts about The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair being compared to Lolita?A: There’s nothing comparable. When imagining that I would develop the novel around a relationship between Nola and Harry, I immediately thought of Lolita. And therefore my allusion in the book with N-O-L-A. It was my way of mentioning the inspirations that arise in the creative process. I had read Lolita only once, when I was 15. I re-read it a few months ago, after my book’s success, and I realized that I hadn’t understood everything in the book.

Q: What are you most proud of in The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair? A: When I receive messages from my readers, especially young readers, who tell me they weren’t big readers, but that my book got them started and now they want to read more books. I think we all have to work hard to encourage people around us to read more.

Q: Who do you read? A: I’m a really open reader. I read just about everything that I come across. Lots of French and American literature. Right now, I’m reading Jean-Christophe Ruffin’s last book, as well as Good People by Nir Baram. Two very good books.

Oline Cogdill

2014-07-02 02:28:27

Joël Dicker’s The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Penguin) is one of the summer’s most talked about novels. Now making its U.S. debut, the Swiss-born, 29-year-old’s novel became an immediate international bestseller when it was released in Europe during 2012.

Set in a quintessential small town in New Hampshire, the novel revolves around Marcus Goldman, a young author who had a massive blockbuster a couple of years ago and is now suffering from a massive bout of writer’s block. Then Marcus’ mentor, Harry Quebert, is arrested for murder when the body of Nola Kellergan is found on his land more than 33 years after the teenager disappeared. Marcus travels to New Hampshire to support Harry, and, as a result, may find his way into his next book.

Here's a brief chat with Dicker, left.

Q: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair weighs in at 636 pages; did you ever think about making it shorter? A: I cut over 300 pages while writing this book. So, I guess I can tell you that the story could have been even longer! On a more serious note, I did ask myself if I should take out a few of the twists. But in the end I preferred to leave the book as it was, in order to convey my own enthusiasm to my readers.

Q: What are your favorite novels? A:The Sea Wall, by Marguerite Duras. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Belle du Seigneur, by Albert Cohen. Poor Folk, by Doistoievski.

Q: Are you amazed at the response that The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair received in the European markets? A: Obviously: how could I have ever imagined, when signing the publication of my book in a tiny Parisian publishing house, that my book would be translated into 37 languages and read by millions of people? I am very thankful for everything that is happening to me.

Q: What are your thoughts about The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair being compared to Lolita?A: There’s nothing comparable. When imagining that I would develop the novel around a relationship between Nola and Harry, I immediately thought of Lolita. And therefore my allusion in the book with N-O-L-A. It was my way of mentioning the inspirations that arise in the creative process. I had read Lolita only once, when I was 15. I re-read it a few months ago, after my book’s success, and I realized that I hadn’t understood everything in the book.

Q: What are you most proud of in The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair? A: When I receive messages from my readers, especially young readers, who tell me they weren’t big readers, but that my book got them started and now they want to read more books. I think we all have to work hard to encourage people around us to read more.

Q: Who do you read? A: I’m a really open reader. I read just about everything that I come across. Lots of French and American literature. Right now, I’m reading Jean-Christophe Ruffin’s last book, as well as Good People by Nir Baram. Two very good books.

David Tennant in the Escape Artist

Oline Cogdill

David Tennant is one of the best British actors working in film today.

While his fellow countrymen (and woman) might be better known in the U.S., Tennant has amassed a following that continues to grow.

Some may recognized this Scottish actor from the Doctor Who series, while others will remember him as the melancholy detective sergeant of last year’s Broadchurch.

He made such an impact in Broadchurch that he will do the same role in Fox’s American remake Gracepoint, scheduled for television this fall. He also does a lot of work in the theatre in London's West End.

But right now, Tennant is one of the many reasons to watch the two-part British series The Escape Artist, which airs in most PBS markets as Masterpiece Mystery! at 9 p.m. June 15 and June 22.

The other reasons to watch The Escape Artist are evident in the first few minutes of the airing—its whip-smart plot that brings a fresh view to the standard law and order series, its realistic dialogue and compelling acting.

While delving deep into legal ethics, The Escape Artist also is an in-depth character study of lawyers—or should we say solicitors since this is Great Britain—who grapple with the consequences and aftermath of winning and losing.

Tennant plays Will Burton, a London defense attorney who’s nicknamed “the escape artist” because he has never lost a case.

Never.

Not one.

He’s also called Houdini for pulling off audacious escapes for his clients.

There is, of course, little thought about the criminals who are guilty but get off because Burton is their attorney. He is fond of saying “I like to get my hands dirty” when delving into an impossible case.

His colleagues and bosses say he is “destined for silk,” which means the honor of Queen’s Counsel. But he is too busy working and finding what little time he can for his wife, Kate (Ashley Jensen), and son, Jamie (Gus Barry).

Unlike most dramas in which the workaholic attorney’s family constantly nag him about being married to his work, Burton’s family is rather understanding. They know the pressures he is under and how his hard work allows them to have a beautiful apartment in London and an even better country house to which they frequent most weekends.

Burton takes the case of Liam Foyle (Toby Kebbell), a recluse who keeps an assortment of predator birds. He’s charged with the torture murder of a female medical student. Burton sees a loophole and, although he is repulsed by being in the same room as Foyle, easily gets his client cleared.

And then the twists begin and continue as The Escape Artist evolves into an even more gripping story with a surprise ending.

The cast, without exception, is excellent. Burton’s main rival is barrister Maggie Gardner, played with steel resolve by Sophie Okonedo, who just won a Tony Award for A Raisin in the Sun and co-starred in Hotel Rwanda. Maggie is cut from the same cloth as Burton and may even be more ambitious. Kebbell is creepily composed.

Jensen shows her range as a fine dramatic actress, making the role of Burton’s wife a solid character. Jensen may be best known to American audiences for her role on Ugly Betty or co-starring with Ricky Gervais on Extras.

And then there is Tennant, able to show his character’s vulnerability and ruthlessness at once. He forces the viewers to feel empathy for Burton while also being taken back by his actions. The scene in which Burton and his son are eating macaroni and cheese without really tasting it while watching the news without really seeing as each is consumed by emotions shows how fully vested Tennant is with his characters.

The Escape Artist doesn’t lag, even when the audience can guess—or think they can guess—what is coming next. That kind of inspired manipulation can be credited to creator and scriptwriter David Wolstencroft, who brings that same approach to MI-5.

The Escape Artist is top notch.

Masterpiece Mystery!: The Escape Artist begins June 15 at 9 p.m. on most PBS stations with the second part airing June 22. Each episode is 90 minutes. Check local listings as some PBS stations may air The Escape Artist on Mondays.

PHOTOS: From top, David Tennant; Tennant; Tennant at right with Ashley Jensen and Gus Barry, right; Sophie Okonedo. Photos courtesy of PBS.

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-14 14:38:24

David Tennant is one of the best British actors working in film today.

While his fellow countrymen (and woman) might be better known in the U.S., Tennant has amassed a following that continues to grow.

Some may recognized this Scottish actor from the Doctor Who series, while others will remember him as the melancholy detective sergeant of last year’s Broadchurch.

He made such an impact in Broadchurch that he will do the same role in Fox’s American remake Gracepoint, scheduled for television this fall. He also does a lot of work in the theatre in London's West End.

But right now, Tennant is one of the many reasons to watch the two-part British series The Escape Artist, which airs in most PBS markets as Masterpiece Mystery! at 9 p.m. June 15 and June 22.

The other reasons to watch The Escape Artist are evident in the first few minutes of the airing—its whip-smart plot that brings a fresh view to the standard law and order series, its realistic dialogue and compelling acting.

While delving deep into legal ethics, The Escape Artist also is an in-depth character study of lawyers—or should we say solicitors since this is Great Britain—who grapple with the consequences and aftermath of winning and losing.

Tennant plays Will Burton, a London defense attorney who’s nicknamed “the escape artist” because he has never lost a case.

Never.

Not one.

He’s also called Houdini for pulling off audacious escapes for his clients.

There is, of course, little thought about the criminals who are guilty but get off because Burton is their attorney. He is fond of saying “I like to get my hands dirty” when delving into an impossible case.

His colleagues and bosses say he is “destined for silk,” which means the honor of Queen’s Counsel. But he is too busy working and finding what little time he can for his wife, Kate (Ashley Jensen), and son, Jamie (Gus Barry).

Unlike most dramas in which the workaholic attorney’s family constantly nag him about being married to his work, Burton’s family is rather understanding. They know the pressures he is under and how his hard work allows them to have a beautiful apartment in London and an even better country house to which they frequent most weekends.

Burton takes the case of Liam Foyle (Toby Kebbell), a recluse who keeps an assortment of predator birds. He’s charged with the torture murder of a female medical student. Burton sees a loophole and, although he is repulsed by being in the same room as Foyle, easily gets his client cleared.

And then the twists begin and continue as The Escape Artist evolves into an even more gripping story with a surprise ending.

The cast, without exception, is excellent. Burton’s main rival is barrister Maggie Gardner, played with steel resolve by Sophie Okonedo, who just won a Tony Award for A Raisin in the Sun and co-starred in Hotel Rwanda. Maggie is cut from the same cloth as Burton and may even be more ambitious. Kebbell is creepily composed.

Jensen shows her range as a fine dramatic actress, making the role of Burton’s wife a solid character. Jensen may be best known to American audiences for her role on Ugly Betty or co-starring with Ricky Gervais on Extras.

And then there is Tennant, able to show his character’s vulnerability and ruthlessness at once. He forces the viewers to feel empathy for Burton while also being taken back by his actions. The scene in which Burton and his son are eating macaroni and cheese without really tasting it while watching the news without really seeing as each is consumed by emotions shows how fully vested Tennant is with his characters.

The Escape Artist doesn’t lag, even when the audience can guess—or think they can guess—what is coming next. That kind of inspired manipulation can be credited to creator and scriptwriter David Wolstencroft, who brings that same approach to MI-5.

The Escape Artist is top notch.

Masterpiece Mystery!: The Escape Artist begins June 15 at 9 p.m. on most PBS stations with the second part airing June 22. Each episode is 90 minutes. Check local listings as some PBS stations may air The Escape Artist on Mondays.

PHOTOS: From top, David Tennant; Tennant; Tennant at right with Ashley Jensen and Gus Barry, right; Sophie Okonedo. Photos courtesy of PBS.

Joe R. Lansdale, Elmore Leonard Back on Screen

Oline Cogdill

The works by two respected crime fiction writers are making it to the movies.

Joe R. Lansdale’s 1989 novel Cold in July is now in limited release in movie theaters across the country.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) stars as Richard Dane who shoots in self-defense a burglar breaking into his home. Dane is soon hailed as a hero by everyone in his small town, except for Ben Russell (Sam Shepard), the ex-con father of the dead man.

Adding to the plot is a crazy private investigator Jim Bob Luke (played by Don Johnson). The reviews have been mixed—I haven’t seen it yet as hasn’t come to my area—but apparently Don Johnson steals the show. And if you have any doubt that Johnson can make a sleazy character intriguing, catch The Hot Spot (1990).

This isn’t the first time that a Lansdale work has made it to the screen. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. And if you haven’t seen Bubba Hotep, I highly recommend it. Yes, it’s a strange film but it’s always pleasure to see Bruce Campbell in anything.

Lansdale’s story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's Masters of Horror series.

And that leads us to the late, never to be forgotten Elmore Leonard. On Aug. 29, the film Life of Crime will hit the movie theaters. When I first saw the previews that popped up a couple weeks ago, I wondered why the story and dialogue sounded so familiar.

Life of Crime is based on Leonard’s 1978 novel Switch in which a wealthy man’s wife is kidnapped. But he doesn't want to pay her ransom because he’s filed for divorce. If she is killed, well, that saves him a lot of money in alimony.

Tim Robbins stars as Frank Dawson and Mickey, his estranged wife, is played by Jennifer Aniston. Isla Fisher is Frank’s new girlfriend. Mos Def and Will Forte also co-star.

Life of Crime received a good reception when it was the closing night movie of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. According to a couple of sites, the film was previously in development at 20th Century Fox in 1986, with Diane Keaton attached, but the project was shelved after being deemed too similar to Ruthless People.

A little bit of trivia for Leonard fans. The kidnappers are Louis Gara, played by John Hawkes, and Ordell Robbie, played by Mos Def using the name Yasiin Bey. Louis and Ordell returned in Leonard’s 1992 novel Rum Punch, which was made into the 1997 film Jackie Brown.

The other Louis and Ordell were played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown.

Leonard’s work has been treated with respect in recent films so Life of Crime may follow that pattern, even if it does star Jennifer Aniston.

Photo: Jennifer Aniston in Life of Crime. Roadside Attractions photo

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-18 00:34:41

The works by two respected crime fiction writers are making it to the movies.

Joe R. Lansdale’s 1989 novel Cold in July is now in limited release in movie theaters across the country.

Michael C. Hall (Dexter) stars as Richard Dane who shoots in self-defense a burglar breaking into his home. Dane is soon hailed as a hero by everyone in his small town, except for Ben Russell (Sam Shepard), the ex-con father of the dead man.

Adding to the plot is a crazy private investigator Jim Bob Luke (played by Don Johnson). The reviews have been mixed—I haven’t seen it yet as hasn’t come to my area—but apparently Don Johnson steals the show. And if you have any doubt that Johnson can make a sleazy character intriguing, catch The Hot Spot (1990).

This isn’t the first time that a Lansdale work has made it to the screen. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. And if you haven’t seen Bubba Hotep, I highly recommend it. Yes, it’s a strange film but it’s always pleasure to see Bruce Campbell in anything.

Lansdale’s story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's Masters of Horror series.

And that leads us to the late, never to be forgotten Elmore Leonard. On Aug. 29, the film Life of Crime will hit the movie theaters. When I first saw the previews that popped up a couple weeks ago, I wondered why the story and dialogue sounded so familiar.

Life of Crime is based on Leonard’s 1978 novel Switch in which a wealthy man’s wife is kidnapped. But he doesn't want to pay her ransom because he’s filed for divorce. If she is killed, well, that saves him a lot of money in alimony.

Tim Robbins stars as Frank Dawson and Mickey, his estranged wife, is played by Jennifer Aniston. Isla Fisher is Frank’s new girlfriend. Mos Def and Will Forte also co-star.

Life of Crime received a good reception when it was the closing night movie of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. According to a couple of sites, the film was previously in development at 20th Century Fox in 1986, with Diane Keaton attached, but the project was shelved after being deemed too similar to Ruthless People.

A little bit of trivia for Leonard fans. The kidnappers are Louis Gara, played by John Hawkes, and Ordell Robbie, played by Mos Def using the name Yasiin Bey. Louis and Ordell returned in Leonard’s 1992 novel Rum Punch, which was made into the 1997 film Jackie Brown.

The other Louis and Ordell were played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown.

Leonard’s work has been treated with respect in recent films so Life of Crime may follow that pattern, even if it does star Jennifer Aniston.

Photo: Jennifer Aniston in Life of Crime. Roadside Attractions photo

Alafair Burke, Mary Higgins Clark Team Up

Oline Cogdill

For more than four decades, Mary Higgins Clark’s standalone novels have been a mainstay of best sellers lists.

For the past decade, Alafair Burke has proven to be a skillful writer, creating both series and standalone novels with involving plots and believable characters who readers care about.

Both authors have amassed a solid following and their readers often overlap.

The Cinderella Murder will be published in November and feature characters Clark introduced in her most recent No. 1 New York Times bestseller, I’ve Got You Under My Skin.

The Cinderella Murder will be the first collaboration novel Clark has written with an outside author, and the first time she has undertaken a continuing series.

The deal for The Cinderella Murder was announced jointly by Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster; Marysue Rucci, vice president and editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster; and Louise Burke, president and publisher of Pocket Books.

This collaboration has been a well-known secret for a few months as it has been posted for advance buys on several online retail sites.

Needless to say, the publishers are excited about this venture, which I think will attract a lot of readers.

“This suspenseful collaboration is going to produce a lot of sleep-deprived readers,” said Karp in the press release.

Added Rucci in the same release: “Mary Higgins Clark’s astonishing talent and popularity are bar none. We’ve long wished we could clone her! This exciting collaboration with the wonderfully talented Alafair Burke is the next best thing.”

The Cinderella Murder will continue the story of television producer Laurie Moran’s investigations into cold case murders. Laurie’s show investigates the decades-old murder of a beautiful UCLA student whose body was found in the Hollywood Hills missing a shoe. The murder was dubbed the “Cinderella Case” by the press.

This sounds like the kind of story that both Clark and Burke handle well. Both authors imbue their novels with believable suspense.

“I'm so honored to be working with Mary Higgins Clark, whom I've admired both personally and professionally for years. Watching her at work is like a master class,” said Burke in an email to Mystery Scene.

“She [Clark] really does have a way of putting suspense on every single page. Hopefully I can take those lessons back to my own work,” added Burke in the same email.

Both authors will continue to write their own novels, in addition to this collaboration.

Clark’s first novel, Where Are The Children?, was published in 1975 by Simon & Schuster in 1975. Since then, she has published 46 books, 33 of which are suspense novels. She coauthored five holiday mysteries with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark. Her books have appeared 20 times in the No. 1 slot on the New York Times and have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone.

Burke’s 10 bestselling novels include If You Were Here and most recently, All Day and a Night, the fifth in her Ellie Hatcher series. Her Samantha Kincaid series is set in the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, (Portland, Ore.) where Burke worked in the 1990s. Her other series features NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher.

Her novels often draw on real-world crimes and are known for their authentic plots. Burke also is a former prosecutor who currently teaches criminal law at Hofstra University in New York.

Photos: Top: Mary Higgins Clark; second photo, Alafair Burke

Oline Cogdill

2014-06-22 01:44:48

For more than four decades, Mary Higgins Clark’s standalone novels have been a mainstay of best sellers lists.

For the past decade, Alafair Burke has proven to be a skillful writer, creating both series and standalone novels with involving plots and believable characters who readers care about.

Both authors have amassed a solid following and their readers often overlap.

The Cinderella Murder will be published in November and feature characters Clark introduced in her most recent No. 1 New York Times bestseller, I’ve Got You Under My Skin.

The Cinderella Murder will be the first collaboration novel Clark has written with an outside author, and the first time she has undertaken a continuing series.

The deal for The Cinderella Murder was announced jointly by Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster; Marysue Rucci, vice president and editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster; and Louise Burke, president and publisher of Pocket Books.

This collaboration has been a well-known secret for a few months as it has been posted for advance buys on several online retail sites.

Needless to say, the publishers are excited about this venture, which I think will attract a lot of readers.

“This suspenseful collaboration is going to produce a lot of sleep-deprived readers,” said Karp in the press release.

Added Rucci in the same release: “Mary Higgins Clark’s astonishing talent and popularity are bar none. We’ve long wished we could clone her! This exciting collaboration with the wonderfully talented Alafair Burke is the next best thing.”

The Cinderella Murder will continue the story of television producer Laurie Moran’s investigations into cold case murders. Laurie’s show investigates the decades-old murder of a beautiful UCLA student whose body was found in the Hollywood Hills missing a shoe. The murder was dubbed the “Cinderella Case” by the press.

This sounds like the kind of story that both Clark and Burke handle well. Both authors imbue their novels with believable suspense.

“I'm so honored to be working with Mary Higgins Clark, whom I've admired both personally and professionally for years. Watching her at work is like a master class,” said Burke in an email to Mystery Scene.

“She [Clark] really does have a way of putting suspense on every single page. Hopefully I can take those lessons back to my own work,” added Burke in the same email.

Both authors will continue to write their own novels, in addition to this collaboration.

Clark’s first novel, Where Are The Children?, was published in 1975 by Simon & Schuster in 1975. Since then, she has published 46 books, 33 of which are suspense novels. She coauthored five holiday mysteries with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark. Her books have appeared 20 times in the No. 1 slot on the New York Times and have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone.

Burke’s 10 bestselling novels include If You Were Here and most recently, All Day and a Night, the fifth in her Ellie Hatcher series. Her Samantha Kincaid series is set in the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, (Portland, Ore.) where Burke worked in the 1990s. Her other series features NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher.

Her novels often draw on real-world crimes and are known for their authentic plots. Burke also is a former prosecutor who currently teaches criminal law at Hofstra University in New York.

Photos: Top: Mary Higgins Clark; second photo, Alafair Burke

The Interrogation Room: a Quiz

Kate Stine

Have a seat. Relax. We just have a few simple questions for you.

Photo: Ryan Klos

1. Crime happens even in the best of families. Match the paired writers with the correct relationship.

2. We seek him here, we seek him there, The Frenchies seek him everywhere Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel!

This verse makes the rounds of late-18th-century London society in The Scarlet Pimpernel. The dashing hero specializes in rescuing French aristocrats from the revolutionary guillotines. Who wrote this most romantic of thrillers?

8. The “V” in Sara Paretsky’s Chicago detective V.I. Warshawski stands for Victoria. What does the “I” stand for?

a. Isadora b. Independence c. Indemnity d. Iphigenia

9. After she abandoned her garden club and joined the CIA, this fiftysomething New Jersey widow became “unexpected,” “amazing,” and “elusive.”

a. Maud Silver b. Clara Gamadge c. Emily Pollifax d. Helen Climpson

10. “I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way,” vamped ’toon bombshell Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Touchstone, 1988). Actress Amy Irving did the singing honors for the character, but who gave Jessica her sultry speaking voice?

12. This critically lauded novelist wrote three mysteries in the 1950s under the pseudonym “Edgar Box.” He then gave his alter ego the following blurb: “The work that Dr. Kinsey began with statistics, Edgar Box has completed with wit in the mystery novel.” Who is he?

a. Norman Mailer b. Ray Bradbury c. Philip Roth d. Gore Vidal

13. “All literature of the time told you that the cops got the guy. The cops didn't get the guy that killed my mother. I knew things that other 10-year-old boys didn’t.” Which novelist is speaking of his own life in this quote?

16. To lure you to the box office, a movie’s marketing should be as intriguing as the mystery. Match the tantalizing tag line to the crime caper.

Unpolished. Unkempt. Unleashed. Undercover

Truth needs a soldier.

They’re back...and then some.

Debonair. Defiant. Defrosted.

All it takes is a little confidence.

a. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

b. The Sting

c. Miss Congeniality

d. Clear and Present Danger

e. Ocean’s Twelve

17. This crime-caper character caught criminals quickly but had the longest engagement on record: He popped the question in 1931 but didn’t tie the knot with his patient sweetheart until June 4, 1949. The happy couple?

SCORING 1-9 You must be a youngster—you’re guessing! 10-19 Don’t take up detecting for a living. 20-29 Average—and there’s nothing wrong with that. 30-39 A tip of the deerstalker to you! 40+ Want to create a quiz for Mystery Scene?

Teri Duerr

2014-06-24 15:11:34

Have a seat. Relax. We just have a few simple questions for you.

The Paris Lawyer

Betty Webb

In Sylvie Granotier’s The Paris Lawyer, deftly translated by Anne Trager, chic Parisian attorney Catherine Monsigny is asked to represent Myriam, an undocumented African woman accused of murdering Gaston, her elderly husband. Catherine takes the job even though she dislikes Myriam, finding her by turns arrogant, passive, and fatalistic. But after Catherine takes a room in the small provincial village where her client is awaiting trial, hordes of personal memories begin to flash into her usually disciplined mind. More than 20 years earlier, her mother was beaten to death near such a village, possibly even the same one. The young Catherine, tucked into a stroller, heard the attack and even had a brief glimpse of the killer, who was never caught. Now, Catherine finds herself obsessed with that old crime.

Author Granotier’s style can be a challenge to readers unfamiliar with the French mystique. Written in the omniscient voice, several characters’ thoughts frequently appear on the same page—and sometimes in the same paragraph—which can be confusing at times. And remember Proust’s cake, the “petite madeleine” he described for several pages in Remembrance of Things Past? Granotier is apparently a fan of such involuntary memories, because she uses them aplenty, especially whenever food is consumed. But what a rich feast she delivers! Besides the food, she gives us the tracery of trees against the provincial sky, the scent of water in the rushing river, the twitch of a friendly innkeeper’s eyebrow. And, like Proust, she reminds us of the vagaries of time when she writes, “Clocks tell the time of day. But they’re not always an accurate measure of time, which can expand and contract, seemingly at will.” While patience is sometimes needed to enjoy The Paris Lawyer, the rewards are enormous. And so is the surprise when that shadowy murderer of memory enters Catherine’s life again.

In Frederick Lightfoot’s The Extinction of Snow, the author breaks one of the most basic of all writing rules by delivering up a drunken, self-pitying protagonist it’s almost impossible to like. At least for the first couple of chapters. But by the third chapter, British university professor Louise Tennant’s self-pity (and even her drinking) has moved us to compassion, because she is grieving for her scientist son Joseph, who was the victim of a deadly hit-and-run. Just before he died, Joseph sent her a garbled email—“I am sacred. Comfot [sic] me.”—so Louise refuses to believe her son’s death was an accident. The autopsy appears to back up her suspicions (he was run over several times, not just once), so against the advice of everyone she knows, she leaves her comfortable London home and travels to France to trace Joseph’s final footsteps. There must be something about the French countryside which sharpens the senses, because the writing here is deep and detailed. No “Slam bam, thank you, ma’am,” of a thriller, The Extinction of Snow is instead a slow, measured exploration of the walls grief can erect around its sufferers. “Grief has made me common and commonplace, my love of all that was beautiful absent,” Louise mourns. “I could still expound the theory of line, chiaroscuro, and colour but it is a sterile knowing. I could quote Klee saying it is the realities of art which help lift life out of its mediocrity, but that is lost with my loss.” Even solving the riddle of her son’s death—yes, he was murdered—does not bring back color to Louise’s world.

Teri Duerr

2014-06-24 21:52:35

In Frederick Lightfoot’s The Extinction of Snow, the author breaks one of the most basic of all writing rules by delivering up a drunken, self-pitying protagonist it’s almost impossible to like. At least for the first couple of chapters. But by the third chapter, British university professor Louise Tennant’s self-pity (and even her drinking) has moved us to compassion, because she is grieving for her scientist son Joseph, who was the victim of a deadly hit-and-run. Just before he died, Joseph sent her a garbled email—“I am sacred. Comfot [sic] me.”—so Louise refuses to believe her son’s death was an accident. The autopsy appears to back up her suspicions (he was run over several times, not just once), so against the advice of everyone she knows, she leaves her comfortable London home and travels to France to trace Joseph’s final footsteps. There must be something about the French countryside which sharpens the senses, because the writing here is deep and detailed. No “Slam bam, thank you, ma’am,” of a thriller, The Extinction of Snow is instead a slow, measured exploration of the walls grief can erect around its sufferers. “Grief has made me common and commonplace, my love of all that was beautiful absent,” Louise mourns. “I could still expound the theory of line, chiaroscuro, and colour but it is a sterile knowing. I could quote Klee saying it is the realities of art which help lift life out of its mediocrity, but that is lost with my loss.” Even solving the riddle of her son’s death—yes, he was murdered—does not bring back color to Louise’s world.

Some Dead Genius

Betty Webb

Chicago’s art scene looks lively in Lenny Kleinfeld’s Some Dead Genius. So much so that Dale Phipps, a financially struggling art dealer, and Tommy Tesca, a vicious loan shark, devise a way of making money by investing in the local talent—then killing the artists so the value of their paintings skyrocket. To be fair, Phipps is less than a willing participant, but once Tesca shoves his hand into the garbage disposal then switches it on, he becomes more amenable. This outrageously funny caper (we never get to know the dead artists well enough to mourn their passing) is chock-full of hilariously mean snipes about the increasingly goofy contemporary art scene. My favorite was the artist who kept a collection of Barbie and Ken dolls, personalized to resemble his sexual conquests. Fittingly, the manner of his death involves a Ken doll stuck in his gullet. And then there’s the criminal profiler brought in by the FBI, an egotistical fraud who’s already made up his mind whodunit, and therefore bungles the investigation by manipulating the evidence to finger the one person we readers already know didn’t do it: the investigating detective’s artist girlfriend. A frequent problem with caper novels is that they can be too slick and ironic for their own good, which can deal a death blow to their characters’ humanity. Not here. Some Dead Genius may be full of frauds, wackos, geniuses, and mobsters, but such is the quality of author Kleinfeld’s writing that none of them even remotely resemble stereotypes. My favorite character is Dale Phipps, the art dealer who, tortured into it, has set all this carnage in motion. As the death toll of artists mounts, he becomes so tortured that he begins to resemble that infamous portrait of Dorian Gray—aged, diseased, haunted. The author’s bio informs us that he is currently writing scripts in Hollywood. Good. The social commentary, humor, and gore in Some Dead Genius make it a perfect project for Quentin Tarantino.

Teri Duerr

2014-06-24 22:01:28

Chicago’s art scene looks lively in Lenny Kleinfeld’s Some Dead Genius. So much so that Dale Phipps, a financially struggling art dealer, and Tommy Tesca, a vicious loan shark, devise a way of making money by investing in the local talent—then killing the artists so the value of their paintings skyrocket. To be fair, Phipps is less than a willing participant, but once Tesca shoves his hand into the garbage disposal then switches it on, he becomes more amenable. This outrageously funny caper (we never get to know the dead artists well enough to mourn their passing) is chock-full of hilariously mean snipes about the increasingly goofy contemporary art scene. My favorite was the artist who kept a collection of Barbie and Ken dolls, personalized to resemble his sexual conquests. Fittingly, the manner of his death involves a Ken doll stuck in his gullet. And then there’s the criminal profiler brought in by the FBI, an egotistical fraud who’s already made up his mind whodunit, and therefore bungles the investigation by manipulating the evidence to finger the one person we readers already know didn’t do it: the investigating detective’s artist girlfriend. A frequent problem with caper novels is that they can be too slick and ironic for their own good, which can deal a death blow to their characters’ humanity. Not here. Some Dead Genius may be full of frauds, wackos, geniuses, and mobsters, but such is the quality of author Kleinfeld’s writing that none of them even remotely resemble stereotypes. My favorite character is Dale Phipps, the art dealer who, tortured into it, has set all this carnage in motion. As the death toll of artists mounts, he becomes so tortured that he begins to resemble that infamous portrait of Dorian Gray—aged, diseased, haunted. The author’s bio informs us that he is currently writing scripts in Hollywood. Good. The social commentary, humor, and gore in Some Dead Genius make it a perfect project for Quentin Tarantino.

Whack Job

Betty Webb

Hanging out with rich people can be bad for your health in Kendel Lynn’s Whack Job. Elliott Lisbon—despite the name, she’s very female—is the director of the Pine Island, South Carolina-based Ballantyne Foundation, a charitable organization holding a Wonderland Tea Party to glean money for needy causes. Unfortunately, the preparations put non-rich Elliot dead center in the midst of squabbling high rollers, one of whom may be a killer. Elliot once wanted to join the police force, but her cleanaholic OCD behavior pushed her into more genteel investigative work for the foundation. Unfortunately, the overly clean wannabe PI still winds up in the middle of messy murder scenes, such as the day she finds a not-so-dearly-departed socialite shot to death on a reeking boat. The central object of this humorous mystery is a missing Fabergé egg, supposedly created for the last tsarina. In between garden parties and murder scenes, we learn a little Russian history, which in its way, echoes the rise and fall of certain moneyed Pine Island folk. The case brings Elliot’s ex-boyfriend, Detective Lieutenant Nick Ransom, back into her life, further messing up her already muddled mind. “I used to be able to juggle six wet cats while balancing a bowl of Jell-O on my head. Now I couldn’t locate a cat if I stood in a barn with a can of tuna in one hand and a mouse in the other.” Elliot’s self-effacement makes her an unusually lovable protagonist, especially when she lets fly with comments like that.

Teri Duerr

2014-06-24 22:05:15

Hanging out with rich people can be bad for your health in Kendel Lynn’s Whack Job. Elliott Lisbon—despite the name, she’s very female—is the director of the Pine Island, South Carolina-based Ballantyne Foundation, a charitable organization holding a Wonderland Tea Party to glean money for needy causes. Unfortunately, the preparations put non-rich Elliot dead center in the midst of squabbling high rollers, one of whom may be a killer. Elliot once wanted to join the police force, but her cleanaholic OCD behavior pushed her into more genteel investigative work for the foundation. Unfortunately, the overly clean wannabe PI still winds up in the middle of messy murder scenes, such as the day she finds a not-so-dearly-departed socialite shot to death on a reeking boat. The central object of this humorous mystery is a missing Fabergé egg, supposedly created for the last tsarina. In between garden parties and murder scenes, we learn a little Russian history, which in its way, echoes the rise and fall of certain moneyed Pine Island folk. The case brings Elliot’s ex-boyfriend, Detective Lieutenant Nick Ransom, back into her life, further messing up her already muddled mind. “I used to be able to juggle six wet cats while balancing a bowl of Jell-O on my head. Now I couldn’t locate a cat if I stood in a barn with a can of tuna in one hand and a mouse in the other.” Elliot’s self-effacement makes her an unusually lovable protagonist, especially when she lets fly with comments like that.